News

Touro Law Students Start Unemployment Action Center

Students Help Community Members, Recognized at UAC’s 30th Anniversary BanquetFebruary 22, 2011

Central Islip, NY – The Unemployment Action Center (UAC) is a student-run, non-profit organization helping New York residents who are trying to claim their unemployment benefits. Touro Law Center’s UAC chapter held their first training for students to become unemployment insurance hearing advocates to represent Long Island residents in unemployment insurance hearings. Student advocates will be taking cases before both Long Island Departments of Labor, located in Hauppauge and Garden City, New York.

Recently, members of Touro Law's UAC executive board, advocates and their faculty advisor, attended and were recognized at UAC's 30th anniversary banquet held at Brooklyn Law School. President Patricia Marquez, a 2nd year student, and faculty advisor Jack Evans spoke before the representatives of the other seven area law schools who have UAC chapters.

At the banquet, Jayson Myers, Chief ALJ of the New York Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, applauded the work of the UAC advocates and explained how he planned to improve the hearing process in a system that has been inundated by new claims for unemployment benefits. Deb Ellis, NYU Assistant Dean for Public Service, also applauded the efforts of UAC advocates, and UAC’s recent win rate of approximately 75%.

“Touro Law’s inaugural training was an overwhelming success and produced 17 new Unemployment Insurance Appeal advocates,” said Jack Evans, faculty advisor to the UAC. “Touro Law students are giving UAC its first true presence in Suffolk County, but more importantly they are providing a much needed resource to the county’s residents. As trained UAC advocates, Touro Law students are prepared to make a real difference.”

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

Touro is a system of Jewish-sponsored non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was established in 1971 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community. More than 18,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles, are separately accredited institutions governed in common by the same Board of Trustees as Touro College.